Pause and press question

[Little Ty]

Hi guys,

I've never competed in any type of powerlifting but there is a local bench press competition coming up here. I would like to try it out plus it's for a good cause. My question how much does (would you estimate) the weight you can press on touch and go differ from pausing. I figure it's a pretty big gap. I have paused during warming up but never when maxing. Just getting an idea before I even decide on doing this or not.

 

[lilmikey]

Before I started to actually do powerlifting techniques, my max was around 205 (last october). We did some pause benches at that time too, and I found it much more difficult; I could only do 185, and that was slow as hell. But i wasn't very explosive, and am working hard on that.

From that ambiguous data, we can assume that you could probably do about 90% of your touch n go max doing a 2 second pause. Keep in mind - the longer you pause, the harder it is to push back up. Your muscles fatigue from holding it.

I don't know if there is a general rule of thumb for this, but that's my experience.

 

[p03t1c]

i would never pause maximum weights raw. it's too hard on the body. i have no idea what the % would be.

 

[lilmikey]

i would never pause maximum weights raw. it's too hard on the body. i have no idea what the % would be.

You're right; it's a lot harder. Lots of pec tears can stem from this, especially if you bench like a bodybuilder.

What style do you use to bench, btw, Ty?

 

[mrskennelly]

If you're going to be competing then you're going to need a shirt, do you have one yet? If not I would suggest getting one and then doing some practice lifts to get the feel for it. The shirt will help to get the weight off your chest from that pause, but the feel of the shirt is something that you'll have to adjust to. As far as % between touch n' go and pause, everyone is different, you'll just have to try it out and see what your body can do.

 

[Deciever]

my t ouch n go is the same as my paused shirted bench. I need a better shirt

 

[Twitched]

If you're going to be competing then you're going to need a shirt, do you have one yet? If not I would suggest getting one and then doing some practice lifts to get the feel for it. The shirt will help to get the weight off your chest from that pause, but the feel of the shirt is something that you'll have to adjust to. As far as % between touch n' go and pause, everyone is different, you'll just have to try it out and see what your body can do.

The expert speaks .